Friday, January 29, 2010

I’ve finally had a few minutes to sit down and reflect on the 2009 goals that I had created this time last year. I was doing well on both sets of goals until I returned to work. I hadn’t been out of the workforce that long but it was a difficult return. It could have been that I returned to the employer that laid me off or was it that I was getting comfortable in my new job – stay at home mom?

In the first half of the year, I had started working on many of my goals. Eating healthier and exercising were my top focus on the personal side. As far as financial, I was working hard at paying down balances on credit cards while growing my emergency fund. It was pretty balanced. By mid-year, I had fallen off the weight loss bandwagon and my emergency fund was disappearing. I stopped paying “extra” to the credit card companies too. My money was (and still is) being quickly sucked up in daycare coverage as well as gas to get back and forth to work. I went from filling my gas take up 2 a month to filling it up 5-6 times a month. We pretty much stopped dining out unless we have coupons or gift cards, and I’ve continued to use coupons (not as faithfully as I used to but I’m getting back to it) but seem to keep falling behind. I pay out so much in child care and gas each month that it makes me wonder “Is it really worth me working full time?” This is one question I plan to analyze this year. If it is worth it, then it will be back to the drawing board to make more cuts…not sure how that will happen since I’ve pretty much cut back everywhere possible. Stay tuned for the final decision…

As a result of all that, I’ve become very stressed and somewhat of a miserable person. Let me tell you, I am normally not this way. It’s one of many things I plan to change in 2010 even if it means making major changes in my life. Over the past month, I have realized that life is too short to sit around and be miserable. It's time for me to live life to its fullest!

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